Ed Sikora
@alabamaed1.bsky.social
Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist. I work with corn, soybeans, fruit and vegetables. I am also a freelance photographer.
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
December 6, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
Tomato Tuesday: Pith necrosis is caused by a bacterium Pseudomonas corrugata. Favored by cool nights, high humidity & plants exposed to excessive nitrogen. Infection can result in yellowing/wilting of portions of plants w/t dark collapsing lesions on stems/petioles #Bacteria 🧪 🌱
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Tomato Tuesday: Pith necrosis is caused by a bacterium Pseudomonas corrugata. Favored by cool nights, high humidity & plants exposed to excessive nitrogen. Infection can result in yellowing/wilting of portions of plants w/t dark collapsing lesions on stems/petioles #Bacteria 🧪 🌱
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
November 29, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
A little fungus on my old, store-bought blue berries. Damaged and susceptible to Botrytis gray mold. Delicious 😋. 🌱 🧬
November 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
A little fungus on my old, store-bought blue berries. Damaged and susceptible to Botrytis gray mold. Delicious 😋. 🌱 🧬
Crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS) is a pinkish insect that produces a whitish-gray waxy layer that thickens as it matures. Often 1st noticed by the presence of black sooty mold on bark, which grows on the honeydew secreted by the insects. Various methods of control available 🌱 🧪 🐞
November 26, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS) is a pinkish insect that produces a whitish-gray waxy layer that thickens as it matures. Often 1st noticed by the presence of black sooty mold on bark, which grows on the honeydew secreted by the insects. Various methods of control available 🌱 🧪 🐞
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
November 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
November 15, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
Chicago at night #Chicago #Photography 📸
November 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Chicago at night #Chicago #Photography 📸
Blue-Crowned Motmot 🦅
November 13, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Blue-Crowned Motmot 🦅
November 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM
A different point of view on #MushroomMonday 🧪 🌱
November 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
A different point of view on #MushroomMonday 🧪 🌱
NEMATODE MONDAY: A field of Sunn hemp in bloom is a beautiful site. It offers many benefits as a cover crop if worked into a crop rotation system. Sunn hemp suppresses weeds, slows soil erosion and reduces root-knot nematode populations 🧪 🌱
November 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
NEMATODE MONDAY: A field of Sunn hemp in bloom is a beautiful site. It offers many benefits as a cover crop if worked into a crop rotation system. Sunn hemp suppresses weeds, slows soil erosion and reduces root-knot nematode populations 🧪 🌱
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
November 8, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
I enjoyed participating in the Chilton County Strawberry meeting yesterday. Here I was surrounded by royalty and chose to “bend the knee”. 😂 🧪 🌱 🍓
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I enjoyed participating in the Chilton County Strawberry meeting yesterday. Here I was surrounded by royalty and chose to “bend the knee”. 😂 🧪 🌱 🍓
Corn smut (inside and out) is a disease caused by the fungus Ustilago maydis. It that forms tumor-like galls on corn plants. While it is a destructive plant disease, the immature galls are a culinary delicacy in Mexico $ other parts of the world, known as huitlacoche or Mexican truffle science 🧪 🌱
November 6, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Corn smut (inside and out) is a disease caused by the fungus Ustilago maydis. It that forms tumor-like galls on corn plants. While it is a destructive plant disease, the immature galls are a culinary delicacy in Mexico $ other parts of the world, known as huitlacoche or Mexican truffle science 🧪 🌱
Along the Gulf coast of Florida 🦅
November 5, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Along the Gulf coast of Florida 🦅
NEMATODE MONDAY Root-knot nematode (RKN) galls on tomato. Infected plants should be removed & destroyed after harvest. Roots left in soil can act as a shelter for RKN until the next season. Work soil to bring roots to surface so drying action of wind/sun can destroy the pathogen science 🧪 🌱
November 4, 2025 at 5:12 AM
NEMATODE MONDAY Root-knot nematode (RKN) galls on tomato. Infected plants should be removed & destroyed after harvest. Roots left in soil can act as a shelter for RKN until the next season. Work soil to bring roots to surface so drying action of wind/sun can destroy the pathogen science 🧪 🌱
Birds on a wire 🦉 🧪
November 1, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Birds on a wire 🦉 🧪
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
November 1, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋
Southern blight, a fungal disease of sunflower, starts with dark lesions at the soil line and leads to yellowing/wilting of plants. Management includes sanitation by removing infected plants a
& using crop rotation. Look for white fungal growth & small white-to-brown sclerotia at the stem line 🌱 🧪
& using crop rotation. Look for white fungal growth & small white-to-brown sclerotia at the stem line 🌱 🧪
October 31, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Southern blight, a fungal disease of sunflower, starts with dark lesions at the soil line and leads to yellowing/wilting of plants. Management includes sanitation by removing infected plants a
& using crop rotation. Look for white fungal growth & small white-to-brown sclerotia at the stem line 🌱 🧪
& using crop rotation. Look for white fungal growth & small white-to-brown sclerotia at the stem line 🌱 🧪
U.S. sunflowers are grown primarily in the Midwest, in states like North & South Dakota.The growing process is a little different in Alabama.The summers are hotter & longer, and can be wetter in some regions. Rain is important after planting sunflower seed. #Sunflowers 🌻 🌱 🧪
October 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
U.S. sunflowers are grown primarily in the Midwest, in states like North & South Dakota.The growing process is a little different in Alabama.The summers are hotter & longer, and can be wetter in some regions. Rain is important after planting sunflower seed. #Sunflowers 🌻 🌱 🧪
Upper and lower surface of kudzu leaf infected with soybean rust. Kudzu acts as an overwintering host of the fungal pathogen in the southeast USA. Rust is a major disease of soybean in South America & Africa and a infrequent threat to soybean production in Alabama, Georgia & Mississippi #Rust 🌱 🧪
October 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Upper and lower surface of kudzu leaf infected with soybean rust. Kudzu acts as an overwintering host of the fungal pathogen in the southeast USA. Rust is a major disease of soybean in South America & Africa and a infrequent threat to soybean production in Alabama, Georgia & Mississippi #Rust 🌱 🧪
Crushed stalks of sugarcane, part of process to make sugar. Process includes extracting the juice; heating the juice to remove water & form crystals. Crystals are separated from the liquid molasses. For a raw sugar, cool the crystallized molasses mixture and process it #Sugancane 🌱 🧪
October 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Crushed stalks of sugarcane, part of process to make sugar. Process includes extracting the juice; heating the juice to remove water & form crystals. Crystals are separated from the liquid molasses. For a raw sugar, cool the crystallized molasses mixture and process it #Sugancane 🌱 🧪
The Ruby-throated hummingbird is a common bird in eastern North America, known for its rapid wing beats that create a humming sound. Males have a bright red throat, while females are green and white. 🦉 🧪
October 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The Ruby-throated hummingbird is a common bird in eastern North America, known for its rapid wing beats that create a humming sound. Males have a bright red throat, while females are green and white. 🦉 🧪